


100 Ways to Say "I Love You."

by ninisalazarroberts



Category: High School Musical: The Musical: The Series (TV)
Genre: Abusive Relationships, Angst, Car Accidents, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, F/M, I apologize in advance, this is a whole mess
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-10-14
Updated: 2020-10-15
Packaged: 2021-03-07 23:48:41
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 660
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26896231
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ninisalazarroberts/pseuds/ninisalazarroberts
Summary: Ricky Bowen can’t stop beating himself up for not saying it back that night in Nini’s room. Now he’s determined to tell her in 100 different ways.
Relationships: Ricky Bowen/Nini Salazar-Roberts
Comments: 4
Kudos: 17





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> a rewritten version of my au on twitter (@littlenaivegirl)

She had spent the summer trying to forget him, trying to move on. It was fine - he didn't love her, she loved him, didn't matter.

At least that's what she spent all summer trying to convince herself.

Now it was the first day of junior year, and she wasn't so convinced anymore. 

What was she supposed to do? Ignore him if he tried to talk to her? Tell him that she spent half the summer crying over him while he was out with other girls, like Kourtney had told her? Was she just supposed to pretend everything was normal? God, who knew being a high school junior was going to be so complicated?

After changing her outfit at least five times, she finally settled on one, checking the time on her phone - she still had a half hour until Mama C was going to drive her to school. So she sat down on her bed, pulling out her phone, setting it up on the edge of her bed before picking up her guitar. She hit record, messing around with the melody, her lyrics a way for her to get all her first day jitters (and her incredibly confusing feelings about Ricky) out in the open. Once she was satisfied, she posted the video to her twitter account, like she usually did when she wrote a song, and she put her guitar back into the corner of her room before slipping on her shoes and heading downstairs. 

After having breakfast and getting dropped off at school, her anxiety only rose as she headed towards her locker, spotting the familiar head of curly hair walk right past her. 

Oh.

Maybe he hadn’t noticed her, deep in conversation with Big Red. Or maybe he didn’t want anything to do with her. 

Fine. If that’s the way he wanted to act, she could act that way too.


	2. Chapter 2

Lunch time rolled around, and the group sat at their usual table, deep in conversations with each other. The only thing missing was Nini. Kourtney had been frantically texting her since the period had started, letting out a sigh of relief when she finally saw the brunette walk over to the table. 

“Thought you died or something.” Kourtney commented dramatically, looking at her. “Why weren’t you answering my texts?”

“Sorry, I wasn't looking at my phone.” Nini mumbled in reply, sitting down at the table between Ashlyn and Kourtney. 

At the sound of her voice, Ricky stopped mid-conversation, turning his head, his eyes immediately stuck on her. She looked just as beautiful as the last time he had seen her, although the last time he had seen her, he had ended things. And she had been crying.

Nini, feeling his eyes on her, turned her head, catching his gaze, the two unable to look away for a few minutes until Nini tore her eyes away from his. Her cheeks turned pink, realizing the rest of the group had fallen quiet, watching the interaction, and Ashlyn coughed, trying to get the attention off the two once noticing how uncomfortable Nini looked, her gaze locked on the table in front of her. The group struck up conversations again, but Nini remained silent.

“Hey, Earth to Nini.” Kourtney said, waving her hand in front of Nini’s face a few minutes later. “Seb and I have been trying to get your attention for like, two minutes.”

Nini looked up, giving them a small smile. “Sorry, guess I just zoned out or something.”

“Are you okay?” Seb asked, slightly concerned. 

“Yeah, yeah, just tired.” She replied softly, noticing Kourtney pull her phone out. Soon almost everyone’s phone at the table buzzed, and for a split second, Nini caught Ricky’s eye again, and he just shrugged. 

What the two didn’t know was that the rest of the group was working on a plan to get them to be friends again. But would it work? Or would it backfire, and just make things worse?


End file.
